Need tips on developing my own ATS to trade FX

[jokepie]

Quote from intradaybill:

The expecation of any sort of forex trading other then trend-following (EOD data) is negative. Do you homework and save some money. There is no way to compete with bank market makers. If you do not believe me, feel free to try it for a few months and then come back with the results.

Meaning that for trend following, which is the only style with positive expectation, given that you can do it, you need no automation, no real-time data.

+1
-------
Only thing you can do is Adjust your position SIZE, Intraday or on 4H / 8H. time frame to maximize Profit.

Goodluck.

 

[RockMachine]

Quote from intradaybill:

The expecation of any sort of forex trading other then trend-following (EOD data) is negative. Do you homework and save some money. There is no way to compete with bank market makers. If you do not believe me, feel free to try it for a few months and then come back with the results.

Meaning that for trend following, which is the only style with positive expectation, given that you can do it, you need no automation, no real-time data.

-1

It can be done. Trend, counter trend < daily bars. Combine many strats and pairs, keep correlations minimal for the timeframes considered, keep bets small to allow for when non correlated strats become correlated (they will). I agree you cannot beat the banks everyday, but if you can go thru periods
days/ weeks in drawdown then you can come out ahead. Personally I cannot win everyday, so I don't even try, but I can say that you must always let your tested ideas run (Automated) all the time.

 

[Davdse]

I suggest http://www.lmaxtrader.co.uk/ (relatively well-regulated real marketplace with sometimes low spreads, low startup costs and a free API with TCP/IP interface) and http://esper.codehaus.org (NEsper if you don't want to use Java). This should be enough to cover all needs.

 

[const451]

Quote from Davdse:

I suggest http://www.lmaxtrader.co.uk/ (relatively well-regulated real marketplace with sometimes low spreads, low startup costs and a free API with TCP/IP interface) and http://esper.codehaus.org (NEsper if you don't want to use Java). This should be enough to cover all needs.

I am in the US, will it work for me?

 

[Davdse]

http://www.lmaxtrader.co.uk/apply-for-an-account

"Please note we are unable to accept applications from US residents."

That's a shame...

Another option is Dukascopy, with a $1000 minimum opening balance. However, their API is a Java one: http://www.dukascopy.com/swiss/english/forex/jforex/library/

Another option is to use MBTrading's FIX interface (as one of the few retail brokers, TCP/IP based) - http://www.mbtrading.com/developersMbtFixGateway.aspx . However, it's unclear if it can be used for trading FX. Also see http://fixprotocol.org .

And unfortunately, that's basically it, in retail land... Of course there's MetaTrader (http://www.metatrader5.com/ or -4.com), but it's not really as "custom" as you want it.

 

[Davdse]

There's also http://www.forex.com/forex-api.html , but the list of bad reviews of forex.com/GAIN capital is quite large, the question is if you want to associate yourself with them.

 

[DeeDeeTwo]

Quote from intradaybill:

There is no way to compete with bank market makers.

The OP needs to answer this question for himself:

What Competitive Advantage do you have...
Over bank traders with decades of experience...
And multi-million $$$ tech budgets...
And access to large quantities of Inside Information?

And also the converse question...
What Competitive Disadvantages do you have?

I've been running a trading business for 15 years...
Because I can give very specific answers in this regard.

It all boils down to this.

 

[intradaybill]

Quote from RockMachine:

-1

It can be done. Trend, counter trend < daily bars. Combine many strats and pairs, keep correlations minimal for the timeframes considered, keep bets small to allow for when non correlated strats become correlated (they will). I agree you cannot beat the banks everyday, but if you can go thru periods
days/ weeks in drawdown then you can come out ahead. Personally I cannot win everyday, so I don't even try, but I can say that you must always let your tested ideas run (Automated) all the time.

I am glad you have figured it all out...

 

[rosy2]

Quote from const451:

Do you use a messaging mechanism to handle an asynchronous nature of the orders, or you just wait until each order comes back?

what would a messaging mechanism provide for this? I do use a messaging but its not needed for order handling

 

[mcgene4xpro]

Quote from RockMachine:

-1

It can be done. Trend, counter trend < daily bars. Combine many strats and pairs, keep correlations minimal for the timeframes considered, keep bets small to allow for when non correlated strats become correlated (they will). I agree you cannot beat the banks everyday, but if you can go thru periods
days/ weeks in drawdown then you can come out ahead. Personally I cannot win everyday, so I don't even try, but I can say that you must always let your tested ideas run (Automated) all the time.

I like to discuss only the bad scenario. so, if all correlated " I agree 100% this will happen, and maybe the first hour you trade ". Do you think that starting small is the major defense? if not, how will you deal with?